Third World and Developing Countries

News about Third World and Developing Countries, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Feb. 24, 2015

Series of studies in journals The Lancet and Lancet Global Health points to worsening diet and increased obesity around world, particularly in countries with rising incomes; trends are occurring in tandem with increase of advertising targeting children by Western junk food and snack manufacturers. MORE

Jan. 5, 2015

Pope Francis names 15 new cardinals from 14 countries in his attempt to diversify church hierarchy and increase global influence of church; nine new bishops and archbishops are from developing nations, including those that have never had a cardinal. MORE

Dec. 25, 2014

Vikas Bajaj Editorial Observer column examines Sven Beckert book Empire of Cotton: A Global History, which describes how industrialization of cotton contributed to slavery, famines and destruction of American Indian cultures; observes that toll from cotton industry continues today, as garment workers in developing countries labor under deplorable conditions. MORE

Dec. 10, 2014

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column observes that Brazil and other Latin American countries are prioritizing development over plans to cut carbon emissions in light of economic slowdown; notes that tension is also evident in Peru, which is currently hosting international negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions. MORE

Dec. 4, 2014

Council on Foreign Relations reports deaths from chronic ailments like cancer and heart disease have risen by 50 percent in low- and middle-income countries over two decades, striking far younger populations than in rich countries. MORE

Dec. 2, 2014

Access to Medicine Index reports that, for fourth time, GlaxoSmithKline tops its list ranking pharmaceutical companies by how effectively they help the world’s poor get needed medicines. MORE

Nov. 14, 2014

Major collaboration between Pfizer and several global aid groups will provide financing to make easy-to-use version of injectable contraceptive Depo-Provera available in 69 developing nations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. MORE

Oct. 25, 2014

China and 20 other countries sign memorandum agreeing to create an international development bank to offer financing for infrastructure projects in underdeveloped countries across Asia; some leading Asian countries refrain from joining the project, which the United States has been quietly lobbying against. MORE

Oct. 21, 2014

Study in journal The Lancet shows that giving steroids to women about to give birth prematurely, standard lifesaving medical practice in richer countries, may be useless or even dangerous in poor countries where most women give birth at home; among the concerns is fact that substantially more mothers who received steroids appeared to develop infections after giving birth. MORE

Oct. 1, 2014

Op-Ed article by journalist Ronald Piana highlights fact that six million cancer patients around the world suffer because they do not have access to morphine, gold standard for cancer pain control; examines array of bureaucratic hurdles, cultural biases and chilling effect of international war on drugs that restrict access to the drug, particularly in developing world. MORE

Sep. 16, 2014

Gilead Sciences, maker of one of costliest drugs in world, says it has struck deals with seven generic drug makers in India to sell lower-cost versions of Sovaldi, its hepatitis C medicine--a $1,000-a-pill treatment--in poorer countries; drug is on pace to exceed $10 billion in sales in 2014. MORE

Jul. 30, 2014

Thomas L Friedman Op-Ed column holds that Madagascar exemplifies how combination of global pressures is stressing out developed countries and helping to destabilize poor countries; contends Madagascar's situation underscores how helping poor nations has to start by preserving their ecosystems, which are vital for sustaining their peoples and attracting tourism. MORE

Jul. 12, 2014

Floyd Norris Off The Charts column examines United Nations report on the estimated population of global cities by 2030; notes results found that only four of the 30 largest will be in high-income nations, with a large number located in tropical zones; observes countries are urbanizing at uneven levels of development, raising questions of sustainability. MORE

Jun. 22, 2014

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column describes trip to Myanmar with college student Nicole Sganga; says Sganga's interaction with local woman named Sajan highlights lottery of birth that resulted in vast gulf of opportunity between the two young, talented women; argues that despite host of domestic problems in America, there is still a great deal that country and individuals can do to ameliorate problems in world's most disadvantaged and troubled zones. MORE

Jun. 4, 2014

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column asserts that world leaders are not dealing with limit of planet's carrying capacity when they weigh future growth, particularly among developing nations, against need to deal with climate change; notes that research by Prof Tim Jackson of University of Surrey in Britain concludes that growth is 'ecologically unsustainable,' and that world must start thinking about how to live without it. MORE

May. 25, 2014

Bonnie Rochman article details the way in which former fertility specialist David Walmer created and brought to market the CerviScope, low-cost device that could help diagnosis cervical cancer; notes that device is particularly valuable for developing nations, where, unlike in developed countries, cervical cancer is not considered a preventable disease. MORE

May. 8, 2014

Human rights investigators say threat by Boko Haram to sell kidnapped Nigerian girls highlights the shocking ease with which child trafficking continues in the developing world; buying and selling of women and children, particularly young girls, has long been a problem in certain areas. MORE

Apr. 26, 2014

Op-Ed article by endocrinologist Kasia Lipska warns that diabetes has become full-blown epidemic in India and many other emerging economies; notes that in places like India, diabetes is not manageable chronic condition like it is in the developed world; calls for conceptual shift in the way disease is treated in poor countries. MORE

Apr. 22, 2014

Biophysicist Dr Manu Prakash is designing laboratory tools that are significantly cheaper and in some cases more powerful than existing equipment, in hopes of distributing them around globe and reducing inequalities in scientific output; Prakash's Foldscope, a 3D-printed microscope assembled from paper, has received widespread attention. MORE

Apr. 2, 2014

World Bank says it is nearly doubling its potential lending to so-called middle-income countries like China, India and Brazil, adding about $100 billion in new financing capacity over the next decade. MORE

Apr. 1, 2014

News analysis; sweeping new study on effects of climate change creates diplomatic challenge for Pres Obama, who hopes to make action on both climate change and economic inequality hallmarks of his legacy; United Nations study says it is already disrupting lives and livelihoods of poorest people across planet. MORE

Mar. 29, 2014

Bangladesh remains atop list of highly populated coastal areas threatened with devastation as sea levels rise dramatically due to global warming; residents lead tenuous existence, clinging to their way of life as more and more of their land is claimed by the sea; situation has led to growing sense of outrage in developing nations where millions face dire environmental threats despite having contributed little to industrial pollution that is root cause of warming. MORE

Mar. 26, 2014

World Health Organization data shows that air pollution claimed seven million lives around world in 2012; more than one-third of deaths occurred in fast-developing nations of Asia; report identifies air pollution as world's single-biggest environmental health risk. MORE

Mar. 25, 2014

David Brooks Op-Ed column highlights book The Locust Effect by Gary A Haugen and Victor Boutros, which points out that many places in the world are not only afflicted with poverty, but also disorder, violence and man-inflicted suffering; says book underscores how in developing countries, establishing order though police training and similar efforts is necessary to address other problems that may exist. MORE

Mar. 19, 2014

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column asserts that globalization has improved the lot of hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, reducing income inequality on a global scale; notes, however, it has not raised living standards of most American workers, contributing to widening inequality in United States and other countries. MORE

Mar. 18, 2014

Study in journal The Lancet finds that in developing countries, home treatment for schizophrenics, overseen by local health workers, is more effective than institutionalization at reducing patients' disability and getting them to stay on medications. MORE

Mar. 5, 2014

Multinational corporations that crowed for more than a decade about their presence in booming emerging markets are now blaming turmoil in those regions for falling bottom lines; companies have cut growth forecasts as debt levels rise and political complications take center stage in countries like Thailand, Turkey and most recently the Ukraine. MORE

Mar. 2, 2014

Op-Ed article by journalist Dayo Olopade agrees with Bill Gates that terms like 'developing countries' and 'developed countries' have outlived their usefulness; contends better vocabulary is needed to understand the modern global economy; proposes that using terms like 'fat' and 'lean' to describe societies is more useful, and contends that many fat countries in the West can learn much from lean countries in Africa. MORE

Feb. 20, 2014

Economists and regulators, as growth falters in number of developing nations, are worried about consequences of the global bond borrowing frenzy and the risks associated with the mutual and hedge funds that have largely replaced commercial banks; Washington report points to herd mentality among asset managers. MORE

Feb. 14, 2014

United States government says it will spend $40 million to help low and middle-income countries develop and improve sophisticated systems to detect and respond to threats of infectious diseases, epidemics and bioterrorism. MORE

Feb. 13, 2014

United Nations report finds that women worldwide have fewer children, are less likely to die of childbirth and have made great strides in literacy 20 years after it called on countries around the world to allow women greater control over their health and destiny; notes that world's poorest countries have not kept up. MORE

Feb. 11, 2014

Doctors Without Borders is lobbying for cheaper version of hepatitis C treatment pill Solvaldi, to be used in poor nations where virus is widespread; pill costs $84,000 a treatment in United States, but doctors estimate that it can be made for $250 or less. MORE

Jan. 21, 2014

World Health Organization, responding to angry letter published in a British medical journal, says it may soon start streaming its annual meeting of world’s health ministers on the web, where it can be viewed by health campaigners and journalists from poor countries who cannot afford to attend. MORE

Jan. 16, 2014

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column argues rape thrives in cultures where discussing sexual violence is taboo; offers hope that situation is changing in some countries as more women and men speak out; commends organizations like Shining Hope in Kenya that seek prosecutions for rapists. MORE

Jan. 15, 2014

Op-Ed article by Tim Hanstad and Roy Prosterman, executives at nonprofit group Landesa, contends the developing world's landless poor routinely bear the brunt of natural disasters like Typhoon Haiyan; urges international community to push for enforcement of long-ignored land tenure reform laws in the Philippines. MORE

Jan. 13, 2014

Pope Francis appoints16 new cardinals, with nine from small, poor countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America; appointments illustrate both Francis's distaste for traditional clerical career ladder and his continued efforts to reshape Catholic Church. MORE

Jan. 12, 2014

Nonprofit start-up D-Rev designs medical equipment for use in developing countries and licenses it to distributors; although marriage of nonprofit motives to for-profit markets can be rocky, firm is redesigning not only high-tech products but also supply chains and procurement systems. MORE

Jan. 7, 2014

Editorial holds that street protests in Cambodia, Bangladesh and Thailand illustrate fragile state of democracy in many developing countries and their need for checks and balances; contends elections themselves do not guarantee fairness, and that such nations must develop institutions that can balance the power of political leaders. MORE

Dec. 31, 2013

Banks in 16 developing countries where credit ratings are rare are using a psychometric test developed at Harvard to help lending to more than 70,000 small-business owners; multiple-choice credit score test is way to measure traits of trustworthy entrepreneurs. MORE

Dec. 31, 2013

Sample questions from the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab’s psychometric test, which helps banks decide whether to lend money in developing countries to small entrepreneurs.. MORE

Dec. 30, 2013

Editorial criticizes American government for buying uniforms for federal workers from overseas countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia that often violate basic labor standards; urges government to heed its own advice, as it pushes retailers to demand better working conditions at factories in the developing world that make their merchandise; holds it must set an example for the private sector to follow. MORE

Dec. 25, 2013

Editorial observes threat of rising cancer rates in low- and middle-income countries, with estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths occurring worldwide in 2012; also notes increasing use of tobacco in Africa; calls for strengthening of health care systems of low-income countries as well as upholding of ability of individual countries to regulate tobacco sales. MORE

Dec. 16, 2013

Editorial criticizes tobacco companies for using trade and investment agreements to challenge and intimidate developing countries that are trying to regulate cigarettes; urges all nations to follow example of the United States and 11 Pacific Rim countries in including safeguards in trade and investment agreements that protect nations from legal challenges by tobacco companies. MORE

Dec. 10, 2013

Researchers from Michigan Technological University say they have developed an affordable 3-D printer that can print out metal parts; cite among possibilities for its use the local production of machine parts in for repairs of machinery in developing countries. MORE

Dec. 4, 2013

Op-Ed article by author and policy wonk Bjorn Lomborg underscores need for cheap fossil fuels in poor nations, which need such energy sources to lift people out of poverty; urges Western nations to step up investment in research and development of cleaner, alternative technologies, but charges that they should not stand in the way of poor nations as they turn to fossil fuels like coal. MORE

Dec. 2, 2013

Editorial praises Swedish retailer H&M for its admirable and ambitious goal of ensuring that workers in developing nations that produce its clothing are paid a living wage; warns company will have to make major changes to achieve this goal, and that it has yet to provide important details about how it is going about it. MORE

Nov. 30, 2013

Op-Ed article by Prof Paul Collier reminds liberals that a relaxed immigration policy in America may be detrimental to countries from which people are emigrating; warns that by opening America's doors wider, many developing countries are being deprived of their best and brightest citizens. MORE

Nov. 21, 2013

Developing nations stage symbolic walkout at United Nations climate talks in Warsaw to protest what they consider inadequate financial support from wealthy countries. MORE

Nov. 19, 2013

Op-Ed article by environmental engineer Jason Kass argues that in attempting to aid the 2.5 billion people who do not have access to working toilets, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has put an absurd and wasteful emphasis on complicated technological innovation; suggests simple, low-tech solutions have a far likelier chance of solving the problem. MORE

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Currently, 2.7 billion people use the Internet, or 39 percent of the world’s population. Europe has the highest use, followed by the Americas, but in Africa, only 16 percent use it, half of the rates of Asia and the Pacific.

Sierra Leone is at the vanguard of a revolution that appears to be substantially lessening health dangers in what has been one of the world’s riskiest countries to be a pregnant woman or a small child.